Yes, it’s been a while since I’ve posted here. I hope you can forgive me.
While reading the Western Civ text for the fall course that I’m teaching, I came across a few statements that brought back to my memory exactly WHY I began to be such a big religious skeptic. It reminded me of the Western Civ 1 class that I had taken all those years ago and how it caused me to question things–like Christianity, the afterlife, and sin.
Last night, the statement went something like this… The early Christians stayed away from pagans because they did not want to be influenced in a negative way. Isn’t that the truth… Then, I began to remember things my professor said as well as things I found while reading: Christianity came after Judaism which came after the pagan and naturistic (nature-bourne) belief systems. Catholic priests would conform Catholic holy days to that of the local pagan holy days in order to easily assimilate these people into the “Catholic fold.”
I grew up an Italian-Irish-Jew in an Italian Catholic household, attending Catholic school at an early age, regularly attending CCD, and receiving most of my sacraments. Then, my mother ripped us out of the Catholic Church and brought us elsewhere.
During my time as a Catholic, I do not EVER recall knowing that Jesus was Jewish. I had always believed (and was never corrected) that Jesus was a Catholic. Why wouldn’t he be? He was the guy hanging on the cross over the altar, reminding us through the stations of the cross that was displayed on each wall of the church, that he was sent from Heaven, by his holy Father, lived and performed miracles while on Earth, was crucified, died, and buried. On the third day (Easter), he rose from the dead and gave us everlasting life. (Stand, sit, kneel)
I remembered thinking about the complexities of the Catholic religion while sitting through a mass at school last year. I tilted my head to the side and wondered what relevance it all had on life. Would my life change if I did not bow my head to the cross? Or, if I didn’t take communion (which I never did, btw). What about nuns? Priests? How did we, as a civilization, change our religious rites from respecting nature and the elements to kneeling before a cross, weeping and gnashing our teeth, hoping that the God who represents the cross will have mercy upon our souls as we all follow Father So-And-So in repeating the “Our Father.” (Stand, sit, kneel!)
A lot of questions began to arise… and one day at lunch, I questioned the Priest-in-Charge about somethings that were bothering me. In turn, he gave me the antiseptic response of “…it says in God’s holy word” without answering my question. I think my question was, “Why do people need to ingest the wafer, as a representation of Jesus’ body, and wine, as Jesus’ blood if the Bible says in John 3:3: “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”
This was one moment in a lot of moments in which I have questioned mortality, religion, and the afterlife.
Often, I wonder WHICH religion is the RIGHT religion… meaning, how do we know which one will get us into Heaven or give us a fulfilling afterlife?
My mother has never liked my inquisitive nature. When I was a child, she would tell me to be quiet because I never stopped asking her questions. As an adult, she more or less does the same thing, except when it relates in any way to (HER) Christianity, I am told the following “You cannot make me question MY God.”
I never wanted HER to question her God… *I* want to question HER God. However, since her God isn’t taking interviews, I have to settle with just throwing occasional questions into the vast forever of the Internet, hoping that perhaps God has high-speed.
Of all the things that Christianity IS (good AND bad), what bothers me the most is HOW it tries to make every OTHER religion into the “bad” guy (like the early Christian leaders tried to do with the non-Christian/pagan/polytheistic religions)… claiming to have the sole right to brag about “Biblical” events such as… Creation… the Great Flood/Deluge… the Diaspora of Jews in and out of exile… miracles and magic… when it doesn’t have sole ownership of those stories since many early civilizations told stories of men with superior strength (Hercules, Samson)… of the Great Deluge/Flood (Epic of Gilgamesh, Noah)… of trials and tribulations mixing scant vestiges of historical information with mythology and the like.
How do Christians know they are going to heaven while the remaining people are supposed to burn in hell? Are ALL Christians going to heaven? Or, are there certain groups? Does God even care about the institution of church? Or is he/she concerned with compassion, love, respect and honor? What about the Calvinists? (I’m still worried about them…)
So, if Christianity IS the only sacred religion… what will happen to the Jews? They share the Old Testament, and Judaism is the stepping stone to Christianity… would it be fair to condemn the Jews to an eternity of suffering? Haven’t they suffered enough? Or, the Muslims… with their Five Pillars of Faith [Shahadah (profession of faith), Salah (ritual prayer), Zakah (alms tax), Sawm (fasting during Ramadan), and Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca)] and their Sharia (laws)? Is it fair for the Muslims who are NOT radical extremists bent on blowing up the United States in a permanent manner… to be labeled infidels and condemned to an afterlife of pain and suffering? If we go there, then we can’t forget Hindus, Buddhists, primal indigenous as well as African traiditional and diasporic religions, the Sikhs, the Juche, those who practice Spiritualism, Taoists, Baha’i (-ists), Jainists, Shintos, Cao Dais, Zoroastrians, Tenrikyos, Neo-Pagans, Unitarian-Universalism, Confucianism, Hare Krishnas, Rastafarians, or the Scientologists. If we include the Scientologists, then we HAVE to include the Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Peyotism, and various Pagan religions, Wicca, Zen as well. Lest we forget… Angostics, Gnostics, and Atheists, too.
So, now that I’ve covered (nearly) everyone… who’s god is the RIGHT god? Which religion is the RIGHT religion? If there IS a right religion and god/godess, then someone needs to let us know soon.
Perhaps, religion is nothing more than a cultural thing we have in common. We all believe in some sort of higher power that created the earth, heavens, people, and other living creatures. The God/god/goddess can be benevolent, angry, vengeful, spiteful, bitter, loving, compassionate, and nurturing. Most of the stories are the same (i.e. biblical mythologies) and some of the “laws” are similar.
We hold onto our religion, I believe, because we need to–it is some part of who we are, who our ancestors were, and may define what our future generations may become. Religion cannot stand alone… it needs people, culture, society, rules and regulations…
But, is that what religion is truly about? Is it a person journey or a communal right?
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Well, you have described just about exactly how I feel about religion too. I’ve never been able to get past the Superiority Complex of many religions. Different paths, similar places in the journey at this point (I hate to say ‘conclusion’ since I still traveling).
I was brought up In an Italian-American-Catholic-Protestant household. Emphasis on the Italian and Catholic…and went to Catholic school for 12 straight years and then became a CCD teacher in college. So I have some comments from my experience on a few things you said.
First of all, we were always taught that Jesus was a Jew and that the Jews were our brothers that kinda didn’t get the memo about Jesus being the Messiah they were waiting for. But we were totally aware of the whole Judeo-Christian connection. We had a really cool seder in 2nd grade to celebrate Passover too – I still remember it well. And we learned that the whole Old Testament was the shared history and belief of our religions. In my mind we Christians ARE Jews, just Jews who believe that God has sent his son, as opposed to the ones who are still waiting. Ever hear of Jews for Jesus? They were all over the campus when I was in college. I don’t know if they are still around or not.
I feel sorry for you that your mother did not encourage questions. Mine told me that it was normal for people to question their religion at some point, as if it were a normal part of spiritual development. which of course it is. I am blessed that she welcomed questions and fielded them as best she could.
It helps that I made a couple of trips to Rome. Once you have been in the catacombs, seen the relics of early saints, been in the basement of St. Peter’s and read the line of Pope’s names that are buried there…going all the way back to Jesus….I don’t know, it was all so overwhelming to me. Being 2,000 years removed, it is hard to grasp it all, but I guess that is where the leap of faith comes in.
You wrote, “If there IS a right religion and god/godess, then someone needs to let us know soon.” I thought they already did.
One idea that always appealed to me was the Hindu belief that religions are like the spokes of a wheel. Far apart at the outside of the circle, but all coming together in the middle…coming to the same God.
The same god, that’s sort’ve what I was thinking… however, society is so into labels… I’m a Catholic, He’s a Protestant, She’s a Baptist… it’s just too maddening. In my parents’ house, there is ONLY one religion–being Born Again. Every other religion (Catholicism, included) are not righteous and therefore they will goto hell unless they become saved. I always felt that the born again thing, at least from my perspective, was a bit one-sided. My mother’s church (in NJ) would single out groups and classify them according to sin. Its not the religion that’s a sin, I said to my mother one day, it’s the people. I left her church because the people had become finger-pointing heretics. I haven’t really looked back. I do get sad when I am in a church, regardless of the religion, because it seems that everyone is competing to be the winners… *sighs*
OH, and of course, I never recalled learning Jesus was Jewish. I learned about the Roman guards… and Pontius Pilate… but if the Jews were mentioned it was in passing. I called my mother and asked her, she agreed that the Catholic Church we attended never made mention that Jesus was Jewish. She also said that growing up (k-12 Catholic school), she didn’t remember if they taught her that he was Jewish… because the Roman influence was so great. *shrugs*
I lean toward “one God, different names.” Because if you believe that God made us all (I’m more of an evolutionist than a Creationist, but to me that doesn’t meant that God didn’t put evolution into motion), then why did He make us in all different shapes and sizes? If we’re all in God’s image, why are we all so different? So maybe God manifests Himself differently to different groups. To the Native Americans, He is the many spirits that embody their world. To the Jews, He is YHWH. To the Christians, He is God the Father and the Trinity. Etc, etc, and so on and so forth.
I was taught that Jesus was a Jew from an early age, but I do not recall that being taught in our church. I think I am young enough that my religious upbringing within the church was rather watered down. I was really quite shocked when I found out how dogmatic and exclusive historical Presbyterians had been, since our church was so open and accepting. It was like I was getting Lite Presbyterianism, not the real deal.
My parents were the ones who taught me that Jesus was a Jew, mainly because I come from Jewish ancestry. In fact, my (step)mom yanked me out of the Vacation Bible School my real mother had enrolled me in when I visited her home and gleefully informed her that the Jews had killed Jesus. She knew that wouldn’t fly in my father’s household.
I was always taught to question. My father and mother both admit to me that their way to faith hasn’t been an easy road. My mom didn’t start feeling like a true Christian until her late 20s, early 30s. My father wasn’t baptized till he was 42. Always they question, and they wonder, and they ponder. Also my parents have always encouraged me to pursue whatever religion I am most comfortable with. To that end, I was always taken to my family’s Jewish holidays and to services when we were in town. We even went to other religious festivals, like Hindu, in order to expose us to even more different experiences. I found it to be a lot of fun, and I think it kept my horizons broad.
I have such a hard time with Christians who believe that their way is the ONLY way. I wonder if that’s a peculiarity to American Christians, however, since we experience a fair amount of hubris in our everyday lives.
One God, different names… good point, bluesleepy.